STRANGE CAPACITOR

[east electronics]

on the picture you may see a filter capacitor that is located in the main power supply of a technics SE-900 SM2

The capacitor under question has a spring coil of wire 1.5mm thick of a few turns connected to nowhere


Any body might have an idea wtf is this ?

 

[U102324]

Hi Sakis,

It was made intentionally so it must have some purpose. The Japanese never did something for no reason, they must have research and found some anti-resonating properties or something. Maybe the owners manual or marketing brochure will have reference to some unique feature of the amp.

 

[east electronics]

hello Nico ...always nice to hear from a friend ....
beyond capacitors best regards for you and family and i wish things a re better in SA than is for us in Europe

( still though we actually do fine )

as about the manual or a service manual i can only locate the SE 900 which is different from the SE 900 SM 2 and doesn't have this feature or any reference on the specific cap.

somewhere far away in the past i recall that i have seen the zobel coil ( inductor) rounded on the capacitor but this one is no part of the circuit

kind regards
sakis

 

[AKN]

Hi Sakis,

Technics TA-KE II caps. Babboo fiber in separator and that spring should probably give both stiffness and damping to the cap body due to dissimilar metals. Not to mention a fancy spiral look through the heat shrink wrap.

I think this is mostly snake oil but at least it does make the amp itself worse.

I have myself recently restored a SE-A900 SM2 and IMO it sounds very good.

One thing to watch out for if replacing these caps on this is the cap support pins. On the PCB one support solder pad is not insulated. Usually cap mfg specifies that support pins should be isolated (NC). Easy fix to isolate pin/pad on the PCB.

 

[east electronics]

thanks ....

marvelous .... snake oil !!! does it also come in flavors ??? strawberry could be nice !!!

 

[Ian Finch]

Bamboo cap. sleeving

This reminds me of the fashion, some years back, for removing PVC sleeving from electrolytics to avoid
resonance - or was that about electrostatic charge on the PVC? 😕 Hmmm,.. resonant electrolytics, eh?
Yep....snake oil!.. (make mine chocolate malted!) 😀

 

[sofaspud]

I can imagine the spiral wire absorbing some heat, and causing the capacitor, should it do so, to blow upwards rather than outwards. Otherwise... nada.

 

[jitter]

as about the manual or a service manual i can only locate the SE 900 which is different from the SE 900 SM 2 and doesn't have this feature or any reference on the specific cap.

Did you mean SE-A900SM2? If so, what about this service manual?

 

[AKN]

I think this is mostly snake oil but at least it does make the amp itself worse.

Correction: ....but at least it does NOT make the amp itself worse.

Sorry 😀

 

[east electronics]

thanks Jitter for the schematic with the first look there is no other difference from the one i have than a switch in the rear to control the VU meter lights and the snake oil capacitors ...

Kind regards
sakis

 

[Tekko]

This is something i have never ever in my life seen before.